A Champion Rises
by Nate310593
Summary: Airen, Percy and Lucy, three people chosen as Oak's newest trio. Follow their journey around Kanto as they battle for badges, for pokemon and for friendship.
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE

The sunlight crept in between the dusty curtains of the library, it wouldn't be light for long, and the sun was slowly setting in the west, a gentle breeze rolled through the window. It was a beautiful scene as always, just off to the North West you could see the majesty of Mt. Silver, the mountain that separates the Kanto and Johto regions, and to the south west the endless ocean, holding countless islands and countless Pokémon. An old man sat at his desk in a library, procrastinating while he watched the sunset, he preferred Mt. Silver to the mountains of paperwork on his desk right now, sorting through applications for starter level Pokémon. He sighed as he picked up another application, skimming through it, it was the third application from Vermillion City he had read so far but he had to read every single one. He finished reading and placed it on top of another pile as the sun finally set. The wind picked up as night descended and a breeze sped through the window, spilling the paperwork across the room, both piles of read applications and unread flew in all corners of the room and out the door.  
"Oh, in the name of Mew" he cursed, getting out of his seat and onto his hands and knees, his lab coat fluttered in the breeze, revealing the combination of a purple polo shirt, tucked into his brown slacks with his dress shoes, he wore professional attire, as always. He scattered around the room collecting the pages of applications, when a young teenager appeared at the door, clutching yet another application,  
"this yours pops?" he looked around at the mess, "woah, what happened here"  
"A breeze, that's what happened!" he exclaimed, clearly frustrated, "yes, that is mine, thank you" he took the page back, knocked them against the floor to try and neaten them, which didn't work all that well and returned to his desk.  
"How is it all going? Have you decided everyone?" The teen inquired,  
"No, not just yet, I've decided the first two, but I am going through the applications for Squirtle now"  
"Did you get my application pops?" his face grew a grin as he seemed fairly amused with that remark like he had just played some sort of prank,  
"yes I did, you didn't have a reference letter from a qualified source, only the application"  
"well you're my qualified source!"  
"Blue, you are too young, you are only fifteen, soon, I promise that, but not yet" he saw the disappointment turn to jealousy in Blue's face,  
"is Red getting a Pokémon now!"  
"no, no he isn't, I've told you before, you will go together" Blue's face shifted back to disappointment, "look, you are sixteen in a few months, next intake, I will accept your application." Blue's face beamed with excitement,  
"Really?! Can I go to tell Red?" He had a full teeth grin on his face, and the old man couldn't help but let him go tell his friend,  
"Yes, go on, go tell Red." He didn't even finish his sentence before Blue left in a hurry, however just as quickly, he re-appeared.  
"I think you missed one pops" he gleefully handed it over to the old man and then sprinted out the door again.  
_'now, back to work' _he thought, looking at the application his grandson handed him, _'Mr. Airen Redwood, Cinnabar Island.'_


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

The sun shone brightly that day, as it climbed over Cinnabar's Islands' volcano and lit the treetops as they rebelliously grew near the inactive volcano. For decades, the town of Cinnabar has sat below it, though it is a majestic sight, most would fear it. But not the people from this town, the volcano has shaped this island from the beginning of time and from destruction, creation arises. Not a large town but large enough to find some time to yourself, a small Pokémon Centre and Pokémart lay side by side and my house not too far away. My neighbours, family and friends are all, not to anyone's surprise, into the fire type Pokémon, being near a volcano. Because of our obsession with fire Pokémon, we host the fire type gym in the Kanto league. The Kanto league is a group of eight professional trainers, known as Gym Leaders, who are strong in their own right, each specializing in a certain type of Pokémon. When a trainer believes they are ready to compete for the Kanto League, they write a letter to Professor Oak, the leading expert on Pokémon in this region, an application for a starter Pokémon which must included a reference from a qualified source, in my town, that's Blaine, the Gym leader. If your towns' qualified source believes you are ready and Professor Oak is impressed with your application, he sends you back a summoning, to meet him at his lab and receive your starter level Pokémon, last week, I got my letter, and today I am leaving.

I had read about how to catch Pokémon and what a Pokédex was and how to use one well before I was meant to. Unknown to many of the people on the island is a building buried near the Gym, a giant, beautiful mansion that once stood, now burnt down, abandoned and underground. I spent a lot of free time there, as a child, this mansion that housed many Pokémon, and every now and then thieves, remained my quiet and peaceful place. It was here I met my childhood friend, a Growlithe, exploring around the buildings library, looking at books, instruction manuals and research notes, one such crook approached me. Growlithe sprung to my rescue, burning the foe and sending him out the door without taking a thing. Ever since my Growlithe, that I've since named Archie has been by my side. He was never caught in a ball, Archie was my Pokémon through friendship alone, until last year where my birthday gift was a Pokéball. They warned me not to catch any Pokémon until I had a starter, they said they could be aggressive, dangerous and even too powerful for to handle. Though Archie was already my friend, I only had to place the ball in front of him and he jumped inside. I never kept him in there for long, only when my parents were around, he had to be hidden, and the only one who knew was my next-door neighbour, Elysia.

Elysia was a fierce girl with a fuse close to two centimetres long, with short boyish light brown hair and blue eyes to match. She had been my boyhood friend for as long as I could remember, she had a desire to travel and a dream to be a brilliant fire Pokémon master and eventually the Gym leader here after Blaine. She had always been in awe of his skill and passion, knowing she had heaps to learn she could not wait until the day she would be summoned to Pallet Town to pick up her starter, she was ready for it now, but her summoning letter never came. I just wanted to learn as much as I could about Pokémon, but not just that, about the history of each and every town, the legends and superstitions that stuck with the residents, written in folklore. Many times I would make my way to the Mansions' library, looking up stories and legends, about Pokémon who could time travel, who apparently created land, water and air, Pokémon who ruled time and space and even distorted worlds in universes beyond this one. Of course these were all just local stories, collected and added to an anthology of Pokémon history in a burnt out library. However this is what really interested me. The myths and legends of Pokémon, that's what I want to learn about and possibly, uncover new discoveries.

My name is Airen, and today is the day I leave this town and start my adventure, in order to follow my dream, learning as much as I possibly can. I was laying down and staring out the window, knowing this is possibly the last time, at least for a while, that I'd see this volcano. You never realise its beauty until you are about to lose it.  
"Don't worry." came a voice behind me, "It's not gonna go anywhere while you are gone."  
It was my mum, a small woman, for our family at least, standing a little below five and a half feet while the rest of us were six feet tall and above.  
"I don't know, I swear it just moved." I replied with a faint smile on my face.  
She managed a smile in order to hold back the tears, I was glad for that, she had been crying all week since she agreed to let me leave, dad was more than happy but I knew he cared. Rolling myself out of bed, I went to the bathroom to shower and clean up before I head off, looking in the mirror and wondering what actually happens to my hair at night, my dark brown hair never looked right straight out of bed, but after a shower it went from messy to straight down and flat, getting into my usual jeans with a V-neck shirt and button up over shirt combo. As I walked out to the kitchen, I grabbed my breakfast and got the last of my things, that morning was strangely quiet, mum and dad sat silently, gently looking at me but swiftly staring away when I tried to match their gaze, almost as if they would never see me again, like it was the last. I finished my meal in the dead silence, grabbed my pack and my belongings as I said my goodbyes, dad offering a stern but caring handshake and my mum took about two minutes to stop hugging me. I walked out the door and it took less than five steps before I heard her voice.  
"Airen! You gonna leave without saying goodbye?!"  
I turned to answer but she had already reached me and threw her arms around me.  
"You know I will return right?" I asked.  
"Yep, and you'll have six badges when you do." she managed with a smile.  
"You gonna miss me while I'm gone?"  
She sent her hand flying into my arm "DUH!" she exclaimed, "Yes of course, you are my best friend."  
I turned, still rubbing my arm, knowing she would escort me to the helicopter that would take me across the sea, but Blaine, the Gym leader here, stopped me.  
"So, here's the master in the making." with a loud, booming voice.  
Blaine stood just short of me and wore smart pants, shirt and tie, matched with a white lab coat, his white moustache measuring much taller than his hair and was the only hair on his head, apart from his eyebrows. I smiled back to him, knowing a Pokémon master wasn't my dream at all, rather just to learn, though everyone on this island shared his belief.  
"Hey Blaine." I managed, "I'll see you in six Gym battles time."  
"Can't wait." he chuckled.  
"H...i... Bla..ine, sir." Elysia muttered, as she blushed redder than Archie's fur.  
"Hey Elysia, how are ya?!" his gaze turned to me as he spoke, "Isn't she a keeper?" he winked and now it was my turn to blush,  
"Yea, a great… friend." I reassured, smiling toward Elysia  
"I'll see ya later Blaine, take care of Elysia for me would ya?"  
I continued my walk to the helipad. The helicopter was mainly used for delivering and receiving Pokémon medicine for the mart and centre but this time it was headed to Viridian, and they offered me a ride to Pallet Town, which I gratefully accepted. As I motioned toward the helicopter I received another embrace from Elysia, and then turned to see Elysia's family, my family and Blaine seeing me off, even this towns' Nurse Joy had come out to see me off. I waved goodbye one last time and jumped on the helicopter, when it took off even I couldn't stop a tear rolling down my cheek as my beautiful town at the foot of a majestic volcano disappeared from sight.


	3. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

The helicopter didn't have enough room to land in Pallet Town, climbing down a rope ladder on the outskirts of town was not how I thought I was gonna start my journey, A few people, not much younger than me ran over to see the excitement, a new person arriving in town, by helicopter of all things, I felt like a movie star. I was greeted almost immediately by a kid, no more than fifteen years of age,  
"Welcome to Pallet Town, I'm the grandchild of Professor Oak, Blue" he said with a loud voice making sure the other kid heard him. The other kid was quiet and shy and mainly looked at his feet.  
"Hello, I'm Airen." I said, holding out my hand toward him, he looked at me in the eye, and looked back at his feet and slowly walked away.  
"That's Red, he's a bit shy." Blue cut in. I looked at Blue again.  
"Can you show me the way to the lab?"  
"Sure can."  
He grabbed my arm and started marching away. I wiggled out of his grip but had to pick up some pace to keep up with such an energetic kid. Before too long we were at Oaks' Lab. He ran quickly inside and the door slammed shut. I had my summoning letter with me, allowing me to get my Kanto starter, despite already having my Archie. I entered with confidence, but that was short lived after seeing the size of the lab. A large hallway lead to Pokémon storage rooms and a healing centre on the left and a study and massive library of the right, at the end was a staircase where it seemed Oak would live, bathe and eat. I immediately found the library and gasped looking at the size of it, I moved forward and started perusing the books that lined the walls top to bottom, corner to corner. I found many on the different types of Pokémon, different cities, past civil wars in other regions, and some on Pokémon deities. I picked up a book and traced the spine.  
_'The Burnt Tower' _I thought to myself as I read the spine  
I opened the book and managed to read half a sentence before Oak found me.  
"You must be Mr Redwood." Startled, I dropped the book.  
"S..S..Sorry." I eventually muttered "Uhh... Airen, please."  
Bending over to pick up the book and replace it on the shelf.  
"I see you found your way here alright, apparently it was an exciting entrance, according to Blue."  
"Blue?" I looked puzzled, then remembered, "Oh right, your grandson."  
"You are here to pick up your Pokémon, follow me." I nodded  
following him out of the library into the Pokémon lab where two Pokéballs laid on a table in the middle of the room. Machines lined the walls in this room rather than books, multiple computer screens with multiple Pokémon on each, with enough information about each to make anyone's head spin. Professor Oak walked toward the table and gestured to the Pokéballs  
"These are Kanto's starting Pokémon, Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur. As you can see, one has already been collected, but I trust you know which one is for you?"  
I nodded again and moved to the ball behind a label that read 'Squirtle', I reached out to grab it, I studied the ball in my hand, knowing that I made a great choice. Another voice appeared out of nowhere, but this was one I knew.  
"Good choice Airen, it's the best one." he smiled back and walked out of the room  
"He means well, and one day he will be a great trainer, Pallet Town has two trainers, both with fantastic potential."  
I nodded "Yeah, I am sure they will be, thank you for Squirtle, Professor Oak, I will look after it."  
"Before you go Airen, take these Pokéballs and this Pokédex, I trust you know what to do?"  
"Yes I do." I smiled, oddly proud of that last remark, "Thank you professor."  
I left the room and eventually the lab, as soon as I walked outside I got bumped into so hard I landed flat on my ass, when I looked up, she was as well, I quickly jumped up, dusted myself off and offered her a hand, I helped her up and she was still rubbing her head, her light blonde hair sat in a ponytail and her green eyes met mine as she muttered  
"Sorry, excuse me." and walked into the lab. I shook it off and walked back to the area where I was dropped off and continued on my way, Blue and Red were nowhere to be seen but I am sure I'd hear from them again. I found the sign that read 'Route One, This way to Viridian City.' Knowing I was on the right track, I continued north.

Route one seemed to snake back and forth and running into Pokémon wasn't a problem until health started getting dangerously low, with only two Pokémon I knew I needed some back up, alternating Archie and Squirtle gave me an edge, making sure both had enough experience but kept their health at a decent level. Eventually I got close to the end and health was going dangerously low, but I knew I needed more Pokémon to help and build my team.  
"Alright Archie, let's go catch a Pokémon." Archie let out a loud and energetic bark. At that moment a Pidgey swooped down to attack, narrowly missing Archie's head and landing roughly ten metres ahead of us,  
"Okay, this our chance Archie! Start off with an Ember!" Spits of fire came firing out of Archie's mouth and made a direct hit at Pidgey's chest, Pidgey immediately flies upward and accelerates into a tackle straight at Archie.  
"Archie! Jump!" Archie soars well over the low flying Pidgey, lands and returns straight into an Ember again,  
"Archie, that's enough.", I grab a Pokéball out of my pack and threw it at the tired and sore Pidgey, hoping to catch it to add to my party, the ball captures Pidgey and starts to shake and beep, watching eagerly, both Archie and myself stand still not moving a muscle, you could hear a pin drop apart from the shaking of the ball in the grass, finally a loud beep and the shaking stops, I look at Archie and he barks back in excitement, knowing we just added another member to our party, he leaps into my arms and I give him a pat before I retrieve my ball and add to my belt. Feeling a great sense of accomplishment I continue on, but not for much longer, Viridian City is in my sights. I grab my stuff and call Archie to my side, filled with motivation and energy to reach the next city heal my Pokémon and start to train them. I walk no more than a few feet before something hit my shoulder again and knocked my bag out of my hand,  
"Sorry!" I heard a female voice, I looked up to see who it was, but she had already passed and run off "Is that?... Was that?..." it was hard to see her while she was running away but I'm sure she was the girl from Oaks lab and before I knew it, she was gone. I picked up my pack and continued toward Viridian City, it was still a fair walk away, amazingly the girl from the lab was long gone, she had disappeared from sight, though seeing her made me think she was the third trainer selected. As there are three starters, three trainers were selected each time, Charmander was already selected and taken when I came along, and I took the Squirtle, she must have Bulbasaur. _'I wonder who the first trainer is.'_ I thought to myself as I walked along, so wrapped in thought that I walked into the Viridian City Pokémon Centre and handed over my Pokémon to Nurse Joy before I even realized what was going on. I had made it to Viridian City rather quickly I thought, in fact it was only just hitting sunset, I needed to find somewhere to sleep. I must've said that aloud because my thought process was interrupted by Nurse Joy  
"You can stay here tonight if you need." with a smile,  
"Oh, Thank you." I replied in kind. I left my Pokémon in the care of Nurse Joy overnight while she showed me to my room to sleep and rest. The bed was comfy enough, but I couldn't sleep while so deep in thought. Now thinking about home, my family, Elysia, how they were going without me. Finally I rolled over, closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep.


	4. Chapter 3

As I got up the next morning, my first sleep away from Cinnabar Island was restless. I stumbled across the room to my pack and grabbed a fresh shirt then left to find the kitchen to buy some breakfast, after all I was so lost in thought last night I forgot to eat. As I sat down Nurse Joy brought me breakfast, I seemed to be the only one in the centre. Nurse Joy also turned on the television hanging up in the corner, switching on the local news. I went back to my breakfast before a news headline struck my interest.  
"Professor Oak's new trio has been selected, with the three trainers picking up their starting Pokémon yesterday." The newscaster read further as pictures of the three trainers and the Pokémon that they chose flashed on the screen  
"Charmander was chosen by trainer Percy." Percy seemed strong and confident, his short brown hair and strong jaw making it seem he was ready for anything. The newscaster continued  
"Squirtle, chosen by trainer Airen." _'Ugh, I hate the way I look in photos.'_ I exclaimed.  
"And finally trainer Lucy, with her Bulbasaur." Lucy had light blonde hair and green eyes, gentle features yet very familiar, I sat up immediately, thinking back to Oaks lab and Route one, it was her, she was trainer Lucy. These two trainers got their starters at the same time as me, Lucy couldn't be too far ahead, must be the next town, or at least in the forest, who knows when Percy picked his Charmander up and where he is right now, either way, I'm behind.

Knowing how far I was behind I walked to the Gym in Viridian City, only to be stopped at the door by an obviously annoyed doorman being asked the same question too many times,  
"No!" he snapped, "You need seven badges before you take on this Gym, it's too difficult for the likes of you." Rather pissed at that last shot, I walked away attempting to keep my cool, and instead headed to route two. This route housed the entrance to the Viridian Forest, but there were a few Pokémon we were able to battle in order to train, walking throughout the route and managing to catch a male Nidoran. Continuing through the entrance of the forest, the sheer size of this massive maze was incredible, you can barely see the sky amongst the treetops. I started walking through the forest, battling wild Weedle and Caterpie, one trainer in Viridian mentioned Pikachu in this forest as well, but I haven't seen a single one yet. I found a Weedle amongst the grass and managed to catch another making a party of five Pokémon. As I continued this forest kept getting creepier and creepier, then I heard a noise go past behind me, I turn to look but nothing was there, and then in front of me, nothing again, the pace of the sound got quicker and quicker. Slightly startled, I picked up my pace, desperately trying to find the exit, then it appeared, like a yellow blur throughout the grass, it stood a little high from the ground and seemed really up for a battle, it was a Pikachu, and it didn't seem like it wanted me to pass, knowing Squirtle and Pidgey would be useless against an electric type, I decided on Weedle. Pikachu started bolting towards Weedle.  
"Weedle, string shot to slow it down!" Direct hit, didn't affect it much though as it kept coming, Pikachu slammed into Weedle with an effective quick attack, calling it back before it fainted I replaced it with Archie,  
"Let's go Archie, Ember!" that did more damage as the Pikachu seemed to fall, I decided if I was ever going to catch a Pikachu, it was now, I threw the Pokéball and Pikachu reluctantly went inside, only to fail and allow the Pikachu out again. Pikachu's used its' speed to its' advantage and sprinted away,  
"Damn it" I sighed "I missed my chance." Disappointed in myself, I slowly shuffled forward, attempting to find the exit, which was thankfully roughly one hundred metres away. Truthfully I was relieved to exit this forest. As I left I found the rest of route two, something caught my eye to the left and without watching where I was going I ran into something and sent myself backwards, before I could open my eyes I heard a voice,  
"Oh you again!" I almost immediately knew who it was, but when I opened my eyes, I didn't expect two faces looking down on me.  
"You must be Airen." the male trainer said, focussing better I managed to recognise them,  
"Lucy and Peter?" I inquired which was replied with a loud sigh,  
"Its Percy." I sat up to see a fireplace and what seemed to be dinner on the fire all set up, I didn't even realise it was night already, I must've stayed in that forest all day.  
"Sorry." I said reluctantly, "Lucy? Why were you in a hurry at Oak's Gym and at route one, when you bumped into me?" Lucy seemed to blush a tad,  
"Oh my, was that you, I'm so sorry, I left my summoning letter at home in Celadon, so I was rushing to get to Oak's in time."  
"Ah okay, and what about route one?"  
"Oh, yes well I wanted to travel with Percy here, as we were this semester's intake of trainers, so I asked him to wait before the forest." For a while we stayed up talking about our past, family, and hometowns, even showing each other our current Pokémon. Lucy, from Celadon city started her journey with her Poliwag, she was the same age as me as well, wearing jeans and a Pokémon shirt that looked really cool and actually made me kind of jealous to think I didn't have one. According to Erika, Celadon's Gym leader, she showed the patience and resilience while having the determination needed for training. Percy on the other hand started off with a Dratini, a Dragon type, being from Blackthorn City in the Johto region, the entire city's trainers used Dragon types. Percy being strong and determined wore jeans with a University of Blackthorn City shirt. Though for gym battles, his father advised him to dress for the occasion, recommending dress pants and a buttoned up shirt, and a black blazer with red lining. Percy's reference letter came from Clair, the Blackthorn City Gym leader, saying he had grace and power, a trait all Dragons and Dragon trainers must have. We settled down for the night, Percy and Lucy gladly sharing their dinner with me, and allowing me to stay for the night, I let Archie out of his Pokéball and laid a blanket down next to me for his comfort. Tomorrow morning we would find Pewter City, the gym of course awaited me but the museum intrigued me and I really couldn't wait to see what they had on display. I started to fantasize about the museum and the upcoming gym battle, before long, I rolled over and fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

I awoke the next day, with a heavy heart, almost expecting to be at home in Cinnabar Town. Realising I wasn't, I then expected to be alone, when I rolled over to see Percy and Lucy cooking breakfast I nearly jumped out of the sleeping bag, nudging Archie in the back, who then let out a loud howl. Percy and Lucy, who were also looking stunned, nervously greeted me good morning.  
"Morning." I said in a reply which was clearly lacking in enthusiasm. I slid out of my sleeping bag when the fine aroma hit my nose and I almost seemed to float off the ground and upright, Percy had made coffee. Looking at the expression on my face, Percy immediately asked if I wanted some and I nodded before he even finished the question.  
"Yeah, I like my coffee as well." Percy mentioned as I seemed to be more ready for the day now,  
"A coffee is all I need." I replied. We packed up all of our stuff and walked through the gates of Pewter City, the city of stone, the grey buildings didn't do much for contrast. At the back of the town was Pewter's famous museum, known for having a large collection of fossils on display. Just before that was the building we all craved, but none more than Percy who already had his dress pants and blazer on. We walked towards the gym, Percy as calm and cool as ever, Lucy who seemed to fumble around like she forgot something and then there was me, I was somewhere in between, I was trying to remain calm but my stomach was doing back flips, our first gym battle was only steps away from happening, I wasn't sure if I got enough training in, but I knew I had an advantage, Pewter's rock type Gym will be no match for Squirtle. We reached the doorway of the Gym and stopped in front, staring at the size of the building,  
"So, you must be Oak's latest trio." A voice came from behind us, it was a confident tone, we turned to see who it was, it was Brock, the gym leader, he was tall and strong, he seemed confident and intimidating, almost enough to throw Percy off his game, his scruffy jet black hair only added to his presence.  
"So? Who wants to take me on first?" Lucy seemed to cower behind Percy, though he only stood still for a quick second, matching Brock's gaze, Percy stepped forward,  
"I will." They disappeared into the Gym, not hearing anything for a while, Lucy and I waited patiently, but she seemed to fidget around, obviously nervous about this battle. Finally the door swung open, it was Percy, he walked towards us and held out his hand, holding the Boulder Badge,  
"Your turn Airen." not being able to hold in the smile anymore, we shook hands as I offered him my congratulations. Then I stepped forward, knowing it was my turn, and stepped inside. The gym was massive, the lights lit up every corner and the battlefield was littered with rocks, adding possible defensive and offensive areas, the winner will be the one who can use them the most effectively.  
"You got it, Squirtle, let's go." Squirtle landed in the middle of the battlefield, looking ready for action,  
"Squirtle huh? All right, I like a challenge" He said with a smirk, "Geodude!" The rock Pokémon landed just in front of Squirtle, letting out a loud cry indicating it was ready for anything.  
"Squirtle lets kick this off with Bubble." Bubbles surrounded the gym, covering the battlefield, direct hit on Geodude,  
"Geodude! Tackle!" Geodude's heavy tackle sent Squirtle flying across the battlefield.  
"Squirtle! Water Gun!" A jet of water flew out of Squirtle's mouth but Geodude hid behind a rock and curled up.  
"Ha, that's Geodude's Defence Curl, his defence just went way up, Tackle again." Geodude flew at Squirtle, surprisingly swift for a rock Pokémon.  
"Squirtle, dodge it!" Squirtle jumped behind a rock and Geodude crashed into it, shattering the rock but also its health. "Squirtle, water gun, while it's close!" Squirtle unleased another jet of water directly in the face of Geodude sending him back landing Brocks feet. Brock looked at his Pokémon in shock and after a moment, returned it to his Pokéball.  
"Nice battle, but here comes Onix!" A giant snake made of boulders appeared, standing over twenty-five feet tall it was daunting. Squirtle seemed a little more frightened at the sheer size of Onix  
"Squirtle, let's focus, start off with bubble again!" Onix was too massive to hide amongst the rocks on the field, the bubble scored a critical hit.  
"Onix, Tackle!" Onix dove forward while Squirtle managed to hide behind rocks to dodge them, however that was no good, Onix seemed to splinter the rocks apart but didn't even seem to affect its health, Squirtle dashed from one rock to another in desperation to escape Onix Tackle until there were no more rocks to hide behind, Onix dove down and hit Squirtle head on, sending him back.  
"Squirtle, can you get up? Can you battle?" Squirtle gets up gingerly, looking, tired but ready for action Squirtle gets back into the fray. "Well done Squirtle, let's finish this quickly, Water Gun!" Squirtle runs and jumps getting close to Onix, a fierce Water Gun shoots from Squirtle hitting Onix just below its head. Onix fell toward the ground, a thunderous crash following. Brock recalled Onix  
"Well done, you've earned your first Gym Badge, The Boulder Badge, that was a great battle Airen, thank you." Brock bowed and walked back behind a wall to heal his Pokémon, before Lucy entered looking for her badge as well. I left the gym to find Lucy and Percy outside  
"Percy, that's a nice badge on your lapel, I have one just like it." holding up the badge smiling.  
"Hey, that's great, well done." Lucy cut in, "Well done." Percy then gestured toward Lucy,  
"Your turn, knock him dead." Lucy nodded and disappeared into the Gym, while Percy and I sat outside talking about whom we had left behind. He mentioned he was travelling to earn the pride of his Father, but didn't mention any more than that and didn't seem too willing to bring it up again. Before too long Lucy returned, not even trying to hide it came outside with a giant smile on her face with her badge already attached to her shirt.  
"So that's done, to the museum!" she shouted and ran off, not realizing we still had her backpack. She slowly walked back to us to grab her bag, almost blushing  
"Well come on, let's go." motioning to the large museum behind the Gym.

We walked inside the museum, greeted by a large Aerodactyl fossil in the middle of the room. The first floor covered in information about fossils of the prehistoric Pokémon Aerodactyl, Omanyte and Kabuto. Venturing upstairs the Pewter museum had a space exhibit, walking around the room to see a diagram of the space shuttle and a portion of the Moon Stone, that stories say fell to earth striking Mt. Moon in the form of a meteorite. Lucy seemed to skip from display to display looking at everything and anything, I made sure to read every letter that was on the plaques, the information intrigued and enticed me to learn more, Percy however seemed bored, but before too long, we left. Heading to the Pokémon centre to heal our Pokémon before we left for route three, and Mt. Moon, I knew that was our next destination so I was brimming with excitement, I read everything that it said on the plaques and I was itching to know more. Percy wanted to change out of his suit before we left and before too long he came out wearing his usual jeans but this time wearing a sporting jersey. It was fairly eye catching with a white shirt and a purple-bluish flame sprawled from the top right hand corner to the bottom left. The flame contrasted well with the black lined, red letters saying 'Blackthorn Meteors Grid Iron.'  
"Hey! Blackthorn Meteors!" Lucy yelled with excitement, I clearly had no idea what was going on, "I followed the Celadon Razor Leafs, we won last year, you know." she continued with a smile. Percy held up his arms announcing  
"Three time winners of the UJFL." he then turned so we could see his number "Number twenty-nine, best running back in the league." Now very lost I looked at Percy "UJFL?" Percy opened his mouth to answer but Lucy cut in  
"University of Johto Football League, it's a Grid Iron league." I decided to be a smart ass and remind them that Football was a spherical ball with white and black hexagons and pentagons. They both pulled a face and asked what team I supported, without missing a beat I whipped out an orange and black striped jersey with a logo that said  
"Cinnabar Island Arcanine's FC." a team I loved for more than one reason. It was my home team, and Arcanine was the mascot. Percy and Lucy clearly a little disinterested gestured toward the door and we headed off but before too long it was night again, so we started to set up camp near the craters and grab some dinner, all of us needed some well earned sleep, we all won our first badge and both Lucy and I used whatever energy we had left zooming between displays at the museum. Percy quiet and content about his battle while Lucy and I bragged about ours and how we used type to our advantage, though we were both eager to hear how a Dragon type and a Fire type beat Rock with no real type advantage, however, Percy didn't seem like the type to kiss-and-tell so we went unsatisfied. After a lovely dinner, I let out Archie again so he could sleep, and Lucy let out Bulbasaur, however Percy seemed content keeping his in his Pokéball.  
"Airen?" Lucy suddenly spoke up, "Before, at your Gym battle, Percy and I were talking, and thought, considering we are all collecting the badges anyway, did you wanna travel with us all the time?" My eyebrows rose in surprise at the offer but I was rather thankful they wanted me to stay, I started to think I was overstaying my welcome,  
"I would love to join you guys, it's always great to travel with friends." They smiled in reply as we said our goodnights and we each crawled into our respective sleeping bags and before too long, I was asleep.


	6. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

The next morning Archie, who was seemingly barking at his own shadow, rudely awaked me. Unfortunately he also woke Percy and Lucy who weren't too impressed by that fact either. I chuckled at our misfortune, much to the unconvincing delight of the others, I've always been like that though, and I have always laughed at my own misfortune and my own shortcomings. Sometimes you just have to let everything go and just laugh. Lucy got breakfast started while I sat nervously, waiting to see Mt. Moon for myself, Percy was more interested in the training we could get in and the Pokémon he could capture, fairly sure he has a one hundred per cent catch rate so far, but again, he isn't one to brag. After a quick breakfast we packed up and both Lucy and I were out stepping Percy two-to-one as we anxiously trekked route three before reaching Mt. Moon. Stopping every now and then to talk, catch Pokémon and wait for Percy to hurry up. We found the entrance to Mt. Moon just behind another Pokémon centre and Percy insisted we stop for a rest so he can recover his Pokémon and switch around his party. Both Lucy and I were surprised that he had enough Pokémon in order to switch it around; I had only caught five whereas Lucy had six, obviously Percy had more than six as you can only carry that many on you at a time. After Percy had rested and recovered we exited the centre, made a U-turn and headed straight into Mt. Moon. We barely managed a few steps before being attacked by a Zubat, taking action I leapt to the chance to catch another Pokémon. Sending out Pidgey this time, knowing a flying type will have a clear advantage over most ground bound Pokémon.  
"Quick Attack, Pidgey!" Pidgey goes flying into Zubat with incredible speed and Zubat falls backwards before regaining itself and coming in for Leech Life attack, Zubat manages to bite Pidgey on the neck and starts to regain its health.  
"Shake it off Pidgey! Tackle it!" Pidgey flails Zubat off and dives in for a Tackle, "Gust to finish it off." Immediately Pidgey flaps his wings and creates a massive gust, blowing Zubat into a wall, finishing the battle as Zubat slides down the wall,  
"Time to catch it." I say to myself and throw the ball at the fallen Zubat, it shakes slightly before settling and confirming the capture. I re-collect my ball and was greeted with cheers from Percy and Lucy. _'My sixth Pokémon.'_ I thought quietly as I looked down upon the ball containing Zubat, smiling, knowing that my family back home would be proud of me if they knew, but I'm fairly sure there is no mobile reception in this cave. We were about to start moving again before my Pidgey starting to shine brightly, before I knew it the light had subsided and a Pidgeotto stood where Pidgey had, it had evolved. After that, the evolution kept coming for everyone. After battling numerous Pokémon, we all had at least three Pokémon evolve. Percy had Charmander, Kakuna and Nidoran evolve into Charmeleon, Beedrill and Nidorino. Lucy evolved her Bulbasaur, Metapod and Nirdoran into Ivysaur, Butterfree and Nidorina. My Pokémon evolved from Squirtle and Nidoran to Wartortle and Nidorino. We dove deeper into Mt. Moon, just trying to find our way through, we decided that finding a Clefairy was near impossible so we decided that we would just find our way and head on to Cerulean City. We managed to battle other wild Pokémon, in order to level up our party before the next gym.

We continued on the path that slowly twisted and turned, we found a set of stairs and went deeper again, it was eerily quiet.  
"I don't like this." Percy mentioned, "It's too quiet." I strolled on while Lucy heeded Percy's warning,  
"Nonsense, there's nothing." I reassured them as an alarm sounded _'Too perfect.'_ three men in black suits with a large red "R" emblazed on their shirts popped out of nowhere. The place suddenly turned silent except for Percy muttering in the corner  
"Told ya so." I chose to ignore it and looked intently at the three men,  
"Wait, it's just some kids." the first one barked,  
"Well who did you expect?!"  
"A Pokémon called Mew, seen it around?"  
"No, we haven't." Lucy replied,  
"Well if ya do, leave it alone! And come find us!" and the three men ran away. We all looked at each other and shrugged and continued on through the cave, before too long we found what we were looking for.  
"The exit." Percy said breaking the silence as we could see the faint outline of an arch way and light shining in, we headed towards it but something caught my attention in the corner of my eye, I turned and walk towards the object and knelt down to investigate.  
"What is it Airen?" Lucy inquired, I picked them up and walked back to the group,  
"Moon Stones." I replied with a glint of a smile on my face, "Three of them, one each." I handed them around to everyone.  
"Moon stones work on the Nido evolution line correct?" Percy looked at Lucy, Lucy looked down at her hand and smiled,  
"Yes, yes they do, and we all have a second stage Nido Pokémon." We all had a moment of silence and contemplation,  
"Well personally, I would like to get to know Nidorino more before I evolve him." I said, followed by chorus of nods and agreement. We walked out of the cave toward route four and all breathed a sigh of relief as we saw the sky once more, it was late afternoon and near sunset, so we headed for Cerulean City as quick as possible. We got to just outside the city boundaries before we decided to set up camp. I thought back on the three men from the cave, searching for Mew,  
"What is Mew?" questioned Percy, this question related to my specialty,  
"Mew is a legendary pokémon, a pokémon that is said to be the ancestor of all others. It is unknown where it resides and there is even some debate amongst researches what it looks like."  
"How do you know about this?" Lucy inquired, "I have always found legendary pokémon, myths and artifacts so interesting, I love researching it and my dream is to become a Professor specializing in this, I'd love to write a book on it as well."  
"Studying at university?" Percy questioned,  
"Yea, at CIU, doing field research for my final year." Both Lucy and Percy understood,  
"I'm on field research to become a Professor as well, but I love researching other, more interesting evolution techniques." Lucy stated and we both looked at Percy, he sighed  
"Ah peer pressure." he chuckled "Not to be original or anything, I want to be a Pokémon Master, a true master, training extremely strong Pokémon and defeating the Regional Champion from every region I can, I mean, I went to uni as well, but my classes were on breeding and battling techniques."  
"You a breeder?" I asked,  
"Not exactly, it was my minor." We all looked at each other, each with a different dream, and we were travelling together.  
"Maybe we can all help each other." Lucy laughed. We all nodded in agreement, we finished our dinner each and before too long we were asleep, knowing that tomorrow, another gym battle awaited us.


End file.
